Regardless, everyone decided to give it a try.
After the veteran members discussed and made some arrangements, Ke Xun opened his eyes.
The dice spun for a while, then slowly stopped, showing a 2.
The countdown on Mu Yiran's interface began.
He selected the Book of Laws, this time to conduct the experiment: "The Dualism of Matter and Consciousness."
[Law passed. Please go to the item box to select the item you wish to use.]
Sure enough, when the "resources" were not temporarily occupied, other operations could be performed.
Mu Yiran spoke slowly and deliberately to the item box: "The program's consciousness."
[Request approved.]
In that instant, everyone held their breath—it succeeded? It actually succeeded?
Consciousness could actually be used as an item! The program's consciousness could actually be obtained through the item box!
But everyone quickly realized that they might have been too happy too soon.
Because after the request to obtain the item was approved, nothing changed around them.
"Consciousness is invisible. Even if the program's consciousness is right around us right now, we can't perceive it!" Wei Dong realized.
"Is there any way to materialize consciousness?" Luo Yi asked.
"Find a body for him to possess?" Wu You said, turning to look at the corpses of Qi Muhuan and Dong Yao on the floor of the initial room, then shivered.
"We can't control his consciousness," Shao Ling said. "Remember, our consciousness isn't in the same dimension as his."
"Then what do we do?" Deng Lin asked anxiously. "So, even if we bring his consciousness out, it's useless! We're not in the same dimension, we can't communicate at all!"
The countdown on Mu Yiran's interface was nearing its end. He once again accessed the Book of Laws and the Book of Items, using the laws of quantum superposition and wave functions that Ke Xun had previously used, and using dice as an item, he closed his eyes to delay the start of the next countdown, giving everyone more time to discuss the next step.
Because the "program's consciousness" item wasn't used, it didn't consume resources, and Mu Yiran could continue using the laws and items.
After Mu Yiran delayed the countdown, everyone quickly discussed how to establish a bridge of communication with the consciousness of the program existing in another dimension.
"Is there any way to connect different dimensions?" Ke Xun asked Zhu Haowen.
"A common explanation is that lower-dimensional beings cannot see higher-dimensional beings," Zhu Haowen said. "For example, if there were beings in two-dimensional space, their understanding would only include length and width; they couldn't imagine a dimension like 'height.'
"So even if they saw something in three-dimensional space, in their vision, the image would still be lines or planes; they simply couldn't imagine a three-dimensional object out of thin air.
"Similarly, we humans cannot see beings in four-dimensional space because we cannot imagine what four-dimensional space is like, or what four-dimensional beings are like, let alone beings in higher dimensions.
"Given this, the common explanation leans towards the idea that different dimensions cannot be connected."
Wei Dong: "...Then what's the use of summoning the program's consciousness?"
"But according to you, higher-dimensional beings can see lower-dimensional beings, right?" Fang Fei asked Zhu Haowen.
"That's a valid explanation." Zhu Haowen nodded slightly. "
In other words, the program's consciousness can see us now," Wei Dong looked around, then suddenly clasped his hands together. "Mr. Cheng, Brother Cheng, Father Cheng, if you can see and hear us, please do us a favor and find a way to get your signature for us. We are all good people, with elderly parents and young children to support. If we die here, our families won't be able to survive. You are also a father, and you know better than us the pain of losing a child. My parents, and all of our parents, are waiting for us to come home. We also want to be reunited with our families and live peacefully, just like you. You should be able to empathize with us, right? Please help us, please!"
Everyone fell silent, looking around, but no miracle occurred; nothing changed.
"Even if the program can hear us and is willing to help, I'm afraid it can't transmit the signature across dimensions." Shao Ling shook his head slightly.
The situation had reached a dead end, and a sense of unease began to spread in the silence. Deng Lin scratched his head and paced around frantically, then, in a fit of anger, kicked the wall several times.
The veteran members paid him no heed; time was of the essence, and everyone was racking their brains, trying to find more possibilities. Wu You, who was closest to Deng Lin, had been silently watching him until she heard him start cursing incessantly. Suddenly, Wu You chuckled.
Deng Lin heard this and frowned at her: "What are you laughing at? What kind of time is this to be laughing?! Are you crazy?!"
Wu You sneered, her eyes narrowing at him: "You know, capable men think of solutions, incapable men take their anger out on others. I'm laughing at myself. I didn't realize how blind I was until I entered the painting, how could I have been so stupid as to fall for a two-timing scumbag like you!" "Deng Lin, I'm officially informing you now, I'm not playing with you anymore. From this second on, you're dumped by me. You can live or die as you please, it has nothing to do with me!"
At this point, Wu You turned to He Tang: "Girl, let me give you a piece of advice, this guy is no good. He dares to two-timing now, and he'll dare to cheat on you and find a mistress after he gets married. He has no skills, no responsibility. Originally, I thought at least he had a decent face, but now, haha, not to mention others, which of these guys in front of us isn't better looking than him?! Utterly useless! Think it over yourself, I'm not playing along." He
Tang glanced at her, then at Deng Lin, who was seething with anger, and was momentarily speechless.
Deng Lin's facial muscles were contorted with rage as he looked at Wu You with a mocking expression, coldly saying, "Wu You, what do you think you are? I've played with you for two years, and you even had an abortion for me. You're like a piece of trash. Don't even think about whether you can get out of this lousy painting. Even if you could, do you think any man would want you? You're just a used shoe!"
"What? No man wants you? I do!" A voice suddenly interrupted. Looking in the direction of the voice, they saw Wei Dong, his face hard and his eyes blazing with barely concealed anger. He coldly shifted his gaze from Deng Lin's face to Wu You, who was trembling with rage. "Girl, my name is Wei Dong. I'm 178 cm tall, a graphic designer, and I earn 5,000 yuan a month. I have an elderly father and mother, both ordinary retired workers. We live in a three-bedroom, two-living-room house, neither new nor old. I don't smoke, and I drink occasionally. Even when I'm drunk, I don't cause trouble; I just lie down and fall asleep." I enjoy anime, games, movies, and related merchandise, but I have no other bad habits. My life goal is to save up enough money so my parents can travel regularly and stay healthy. Then I want to buy a car. I might never be able to afford my own house, but if my partner wants to, I'm willing to work hard with her. "If you think I'm okay, let's try dating with marriage in mind. If you don't think it's a good fit, I have several single guys who are nice and I can introduce you to them."
Wu You looked at him tremblingly, her eyes welling up with tears. Before she could even try to speak, the girl named Fang Fei suddenly spoke, not to her, but coldly staring at Deng Lin: "You're like a public vibrator, once it's broken, it's just unrecyclable trash. Where do you get the nerve to be so arrogant in front of women?"
The men
were speechless. Deng Lin, enraged, yelled at Fang Fei, "What's it to you, you bitch! You—ow!"
Before he could finish, something flew at him and slammed into his face, making him see stars, his nose sting, and his mouth swell. Looking closer, he saw it was an Adidas shoe.
"Brother Dong, awesome!" Luo Yi gave a thumbs up, "Precision strike!"
"Fuck your mother—" Deng Lin, his eyes red and neck bulging, was about to rush over and fight Wei Dong to the death.
"Stop him!" Shao Ling shouted.
No matter how annoying or disgusting this person was, they couldn't just watch him die. If he rushed out of the room's boundaries, he might suffer a backlash from the rules.
In the blink of an eye, Fang Fei, who was in the same room as him, caught up and grabbed Deng Lin by the back of the neck, pulling him back to where he was like a chick. Deng Lin tried to struggle and rush back, but Fang Fei pressed his head down, causing his forehead to slam hard against the wall. He was completely stunned.
Fang Fei ignored him and turned to walk away. She noticed the old members looking at her with mixed feelings and felt she should explain, "I told you, I'm stronger than the average man."
The old members: ...Is that the point...?
"Enough." Ke Xun glanced indifferently at Deng Lin, who was wiping the blood from his nose. Deng Lin met Ke Xun's gaze at the face that exuded a gangster-like aura, felt a chill, and remained silent.
Ke Xun turned to the group: "There's no time to waste on anything else, let's think of a solution quickly. The problem we're facing now is how to communicate with the consciousness of a program in another dimension and get it to transmit its signature from that dimension to ours." "
A conveyor belt?" Luo Yi said.
"A time-traveling machine?" Wei Dong said, his anger still lingering.
"Does time travel mean traveling back and forth between multiple universes?" Ke Xun asked Zhu Haowen.
"You could say that," Zhu Haowen nodded, "but we don't have the relevant machine. If we use this as a tool, we'll probably be asked to explain all the laws related to the machine's operation."
The group fell into deep thought again.
Ke Xun looked up at the empty space above, unable to sense any human consciousness floating around him, and muttered to himself: "How exactly does human consciousness arise? Even if it determines matter, it should have a source, shouldn't everything have an origin...?"
"Currently, there is no standard, classical computational model that can explain how the brain generates thought and conscious experience," Zhu Haowen replied.
"I have an idea that might seem absurd, but it could also be quite bold," Ke Xun said.
"Tell me about it," Mu Yiran, who hadn't spoken for a while, said with her eyes closed and a gentle smile playing on her lips.